Early Silver Dollars

What this coin looks like (obverse, reverse, mint mark location, special features, etc.):This variety is the 1838 Gobrecht Dollar Original with the name "C. GOBRECHT. F." omitted entirely from the coin - an eagle flying in an empty plain field with no stars - and the Die Alignment 4 (Die Alignment IV) on the reverse. The example image above features the Die Alignment 4 on the reverse of the coin as it is flipped from left to right (medal turn). This coin also features a reeded edge.

There are 4 major Die Alignments for Gobrecht Dollars: (I - II - III - IV). The engravers and the Mint were having problems with the dies wearing out and so they had to periodically rotate the dies (which still resulted in problems). The reverse of the coin was oriented at different angles for different coins. Depicted below is an example image comparing the position of all of the Die Alignments. All four of these positions depicted are determined when turning the coin around from left/right (medal turn). The coin turn (flipping the coin up/down - the standard procedure for most US coins) results in completely different inverted positions. So we will use the "medal turn" for this example:

Some coins have the engraver's name within the base or under the base in 1836. In later years the name is completely omitted from the coin because of an outcry of the designer's name being far too prominent for a US Coin. The difference between the Gobrecht name on base vs name below base vs omitted name varieties is depicted below in the example comparison image:

There were also two varieties of the design on the reverse of the coin. One design features an eagle flying through a field of stars (starry field) while another features the eagle flying in an empty field with no stars. The difference between the starry field vs plain field Gobrecht dollar is depicted below in the example comparison image: